A Tale of Two Swords
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Regina didn't pull the Sword of Gryffindor from the hat. Instead she pulls something far more powerful, on top of accidentally entering a contract with the famous knight of betrayal Mordred. A new destiny shall be made.
1. The sword in the hat and Summoning

It all started far back...much farther than anyone would have guessed. There was a Magus who sought to overthrow the rightful king of England off their throne by introducing an heir who was basically their clone. Their name was Mordred, and for a time they were a good knight.

Mordred might have been the end product, but there were other 'heirs' before them. However they were all too feminine to properly pass as a boy, and were thus disposed of.

Except one of them survived long enough to escape and have descendants of their own.

And that is where this tale begins...with the hidden line of Pendragon and their descendants. Or to be more specific, the last _living_ heir of the Pendragon bloodline.

When she first saw that strange knight as Nearly Headless Nick's party, she felt a strange sort of kinship with them. It was hard to tell if they were a boy or a girl, but to be honest things like that really didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

So when she went into the chamber to rescue Ginny, she had no idea how to react to the fact that the knight followed her.

" _Yo. So were you sent on a quest specifically or are you just that unlucky?"_ asked the knight with a cocky smirk.

"I would rather not have her death on my conscience since I rather like her older brothers, even if two of them are monumental prats," she replied.

She loved the twins, but Percy was just a nuisance and Ron had never struck her as someone who was loyal to the bone. More like a fair-weather friend who expected to coast to fame and glory on her coattails.

His reaction to something as harmless as snake speak was telling enough, thank you very much.

"So which time period are you from?" she asked curiously.

The knight smirked at her.

" _I am Mordred, the one and true heir of Arthur Pendragon!"_ declared the knight proudly.

She stopped cold.

"Seriously?! I have to ask, was Merlin as he was hyped up to be? Because everyone seems to think he's like the second coming of Jesus or something with how the magical society goes on about him," she asked with open interest.

Mordred, if that really was their name, had a rather pained look on their face.

" _Merlin was an asshole who got off on playing pranks and generally being a nuisance,"_ said Mordred flatly.

"...So basically Merlin was a total troll?" she asked with open amusement. "Maybe you could tell me more about what Camelot was really like from your perspective if I live through this."

Mordred preened a bit, mostly because not once did the girl bring up their genetic donor. And because she evidently believed their claim.

What happened next was something of a blur really. She would only remember bits and pieces of it, except for the end. That part she would remember vividly to the end of her days, and then some.

She reached into the Sorting Hat, having felt something metal inside. Her hands grasped a sword and there was a slight cut on her right hand when she grabbed it.

Right hand bleeding, she felt as thought the weapon was testing her for something. What, she had no idea but it seemed very important.

She drew the sword from the hat, and considering who had followed her into the inner chamber, she couldn't help but wonder if this was how Arthur felt pulling the sword from the stone.

Ironic, considering _which_ sword she pulled from the hat.

She could already see Mordred cringing at how bad she was at using a sword. The cut on her hand throbbed, but it wasn't as bad as some of the injuries she had over the years. Having to regrow her right arm was more annoying in all honesty.

Without it's eyes, the basilisk had a harder time finding her...but it definitely found Mordred a very annoying opponent to deal with. The knight gleefully dove right through the center of the snake, causing it to react rather violently since it was a reptile and thus hated the cold.

The throb in her arm was getting stronger, and was now starting to resonate with her entire body. It was weird, 'fighting' in tandem with the ghostly knight. Almost like it was natural for them both to fight side by side.

She hissed for a moment as the throbbing hit a crescendo...and form a strange glyph on her right hand. That glyph resonated with her very soul, and a strange circle formed just out of eyesight.

The two of them made a beeline for the circle, driven by the hope that this circle would help them defeat this pesky serpent.

The second Mordred set foot in the circle, he almost felt _glued_ to the pattern. The second she set foot in it (which was almost the exact same moment Mordred entered it) her entire body seemed to thrum with an unknown power, one that originated from the sword in her hand.

If not for the fact her body seemed locked into place, she would have dropped the sword out of instinct, if nothing else.

The cut on her hand throbbed in time with the power coursing through her viens into her very soul and magical core. Suddenly the blood began to pool around the back of her right hand and she could _feel_ it latch on to the nearest source for whatever this circle was meant to do.

That source was Mordred.

Suddenly the ghost became far more solid, and a wicked smirk appeared on their face as they charged at the beast. However they weren't entirely quick enough to stop the snake from pentrating her arm, causing venom to course through her blood.

Fortunately, Fawkes was very quick to donate enough tears to save her life.

Mordred looked at their solid hand with undisguised delight.

"I, Saber of Red, have answered your summoning Master," Mordred announced with a pleased look on their face.

Considering she was already suffering from exhaustion, dealing with the after effects of the venom and phoenix tears in her blood stream, never mind the abrubt "summoning" if that was what it was, it was rather understandable she was about ready to pass out.

But first she had a job to finish.

She took the sword, which looked oddly similar to the one Mordred had in their hands, and unceremoniously stabbed it right through the blasted book that caused all this mess.

Hearing Ginny gasp, she very nearly blacked out.

All she wanted right now was a proper bed, a good meal, and something to deal with her raging migraine that she had for the past fifteen minutes.

She couldn't really remember getting out of the Chamber. Just that she completely blacked out the second her head hit the pillow.

* * *

Mordred was rather appalled at the living conditions his Master had to suffer through.

After the lack of any actual concern about her well being, considering she just had a very narrow brush with death, the old man sent her straight to the most disgusting humans Mordred had the misfortune of ever coming across.

The males were all fat pigs that were an insult to the animal, and the lone female was a complete bitch of the highest order who was jealous of her sister.

" _Master, why do you put up with these...creatures?"_ asked Mordred with open disgust.

She pouted.

"Would you quit calling me Master? I have a name you know!"

" _Then what is your name?"_ he asked.

"Regina. Regina Iris Potter... my father was apparently a bit of a prankster who thought it would be appropriate."

Mordred mentally tallied up the initials before snickering.

" _Your dad gave you the initials RIP?"_ Mordred said in open amusement.

Regina stuck her tongue out at them.

Mordred snorted, before manifesting.

"Ah, Regina...mind if I remove my armor? I can put it back on at a moment's notice."

"Sure," said Regina. She wanted to see whether or not Mordred really was a boy... the lack of Adam's Apple and the pitch was really throwing her off.

So she was quite surprised to see the fact that Mordred had a bust. It was a very modest one, and it was clearly being held back by a breast band to hide it, but there was definitely a pair of bumps that no boy should have unless there was a medical condition involved.

Mordred gave Regina a Look, as if daring her to comment on the fact that "he" was in fact a "she".

Regina smiled at Mordred.

"You're still a bad ass, no matter what form your body is in," she said bluntly. "Just because you have breasts and lack the proper equipment to be an actual man doesn't make you any less of a warrior or dangerous to go up again."

Something in Mordred's eyes flashed, before settling. As if she had passed an unspoken test.

"So Master, what exactly happened to the sword you pulled out of that hat?"

"I have no idea. It disappeared when I blacked out, though Dumbledore seems to think it was the Sword of Gryffindor for some reason."

"But you don't think it was, do you?"

"I don't know... it felt a lot like yours, except it was pure, clean. And when I pulled it from the hat it felt like it was testing me for something," she admitted. "It almost made me wonder if that was what Arthur felt pulling Caliburn from the stone, considering you were in the chamber with me."

Mordred stared at her, though both of them were silent upon hearing Petunia outside the door. Things had been tense since Regina returned to the house.

When the horse faced woman disappeared to the kitchen, Regina looked at Mordred with an odd expression in her eye.

"Hey Mordred, do you mind if I call you Onii-chan? It's just... I've never had an older sibling before."

Mordred gave her an odd look, before grinning.

"And I've never had a little sister before. What does Onii-chan mean anyway?"

"It means big brother of course! I've always liked languages since it was the farthest from the areas Dudley and his little gang liked to frequent, and the librarians let me use the computers to learn the proper pronunciation," said Regina brightly.

Mordred patted her on the head, and wondered if this was what having a cute little sister who looked up to you was like. Besides, he could get behind being called "big brother", even if they were biologically a girl.

* * *

Mordred wasn't very impressed with London. Admittedly, it was _cleaner_ and smelled slightly different from what he remembered of England, but it was still just as foul.

Mordred had to grin at the slightly miffed look his 'little sister' had. After he took her to Gringotts and several gold bullion (which she converted to real cash that could be spent outside the magical alleys, since the exchange rate was just ridiculous) he forcibly dragged her shopping for a proper wardrobe.

Even he had gotten a new outfit, which was decidedly more 'risque' than anything Regina bought.

The shirt was more of a glorified breast band that barely passed as 'acceptable', and that was only because of the red jacket that Mordred had bought. The shorts were so skimpy it was a miracle Mordred wasn't flashing the entire street.

Regina had a new look of her own, though unlike Mordred _she_ at least embraced her actual gender.

Mordred grinned at the way Regina kept swishing her new skirt. It was much shorter and had more flare than the boring one she was forced to wear as her school uniform. And her shirt, well it was far more tame than what some of the thirteen year olds were wearing. Mordred had seen prostitutes in his own time that had a proper sense of shame. The modern girls were far too eager to grow up and be adults, when he could easily recall girls having actual responsibility and not being so bitchy about it.

Having to sit through even an hour of that in the store while Regina was getting a new wardrobe was enough to make him greatly appreciate his new little sister. Though not as much as the way she discreetly waited until Mordred took out the cameras before giving them something to really bitch about, like the multiple black eyes and busted noses. She was rather grateful to that one teacher who took pity on her and put her into 'weekend detentions' when she was younger, which was really a cover for the fact she learned self-defense at the women's center every weekend for free.

Also, she got free food and the women were more than happy to show her how to properly apply make-up to hide a bruise, never mind bandage up her various wounds like sprained arms.

The self-defense class was mostly free for abuse victims, which she easily qualified.

The two of them explored London for a bit, before Regina started to get hungry. With her flush for cash, the two of them went to a foreign restaurant that looked relatively clean and much to her relief was easy on the wallet.

It was only when they went to find a place to sleep that Mordred asked again what happened to the sword she pulled from the hat. Regina had refused to elaborate, but then again her tiny room in the Dursley home was hardly a good place to show off several feel of cold steel.

Regina's hand went to her chest, where an odd pendant lay. It almost looked like a cross, except the shape was slightly off.

Mordred frowned. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear the cross around her neck was really a _sword_.

Regina took the odd cross off her neck...and with a little concentration (mostly by following her instincts) she channeled her magic into the sword.

Mordred very nearly threw one _hell_ of a fit when he recognized the blade.

"What the _fuck_ was _Caliburn_ doing in that hat?!" he hissed in fury. Because he knew that sword.

"Onii-chan, you know this sword?" asked Regina, a little worried at the sheer anger coming off Mordred.

Mordred forcibly reigned in his temper.

His little sister wouldn't know Caliburn on sight, and she certainly never intended to draw it from a _hat_ of all things.

"That is Caliburn, the sword Arturia pulled from the stone and was named King. It was lost a long, long time ago which is when Nimue gave them Excalibur and the sheathe known as Avalon. No one is entirely sure what happened to Caliburn, just that it vanished," said Mordred.

"...Then _why_ did Dumbledore call it the Sword of Gryffindor?"

"He what?"

"When I told him about pulling the sword out, he made some comment about how only a true Gryffindor could call upon the sword of Godric Gryffindor at need...though he looked really disappointed when I told him I dropped in in the chamber, because I had no idea where it went between there and the hospital wing," explained Regina.

"From what I know of wizards, that sword would have been goblin made. Caliburn is classed as a _holy_ sword and was created by the Fae, which are much older and far more competent in the art," said Mordred with a sniff.

He might be pissed at his 'father', but he could still admit that at least Caliburn was many leagues above what any goblin clan could offer in regards to weaponry.

Regina looked at Caliburn, then at Mordred. An odd expression came into her eyes.

"Can you teach me how to use this properly?"

"What?" said Mordred, just barely preventing himself from gaping at her.

"I said can you teach me how to use this sword properly? Hand to hand will only go so far, and considering my past luck at that school I refuse to go back there without some form of fighting to defend myself _properly_ as opposed to the half-assed way I've been doing until now. If anyone would know how to use an English broadsword correctly and not look like an idiot or hold back punches because I'm a girl, then it would be a former Knight who went through the training and knows what _not_ to do," she said sensibly.

"Just to be clear, you want _me_ to train you in the ways of a _knight_. You do realize there's a reason I hid my gender, as did my 'father', right?"

"I'm half Irish on my mother's side, and I've found being a Wiccan rather freeing. The fact it ties heavily into the old Druid culture is fascinating and I know that there are _several_ examples of women not only in power, but at the forefront of the battlefield in Celtic mythology," said Regina flatly. "And by the way, King Arthur's legend falls directly under _Celtic_ mythology."

Mordred stared at her, before something bubbled up in his chest. It took him a few seconds to register amusement and the fact he was laughing.

He ran a hand through his hair, and grinned at her wickedly.

"Just so you know, if you want to learn how to become a proper knight there will be no backing out of it later. You'll either learn to use that sword correctly or die trying," said Mordred.

Regina's smile was as sharp as the blade in her hand.

"Hard work and pain are old friends. If it means learning something useful you'll get no arguments from me. I can take almost anything you can dish out, big brother."

Mordred and Regina shared a grin, a silent agreement passing between them.

It was strange, how the two of them just 'clicked' and fell easily into a brother/sister relationship almost like it was nothing.

The next morning Regina grit her teeth and bore the harsh stamina building regimen that Mordred put her through.

She had been through hell as a child. She would not let Mordred's old school training beat her now!


	2. Siblings and Zelretch

Regina had a surprise for Mordred, one that she couldn't wait to share. It had been a pain to borrow some of his hair to get the perfect shade.

"I'm back~!" said Regina grinning.

"How was your girl's day off?" asked Mordred, drinking a beer.

"Why don't you turn around and see?" she asked impishly.

Alerted by her tone, Mordred prepared himself for 'something'.

He still nearly choked on his beer when he realized Regina's hair was now the exact same shade as his own and was even braided roughly the same way.

"What...how?"

"Hair dye potion. If I want to keep it this shade, I just have to go in for the permanent one," said Regina cheerfully.

Mordred had a rather interesting look on his face. It was like he didn't know how to properly react to this development, because with her hair blond, Regina could have easily passed for his younger, green eyed sister. Even the shape of their face was more or less the same...which made him wonder if it was a coincidence or not.

"Would you mind getting an inheritance test?" he asked.

"Why?"

"Because the resemblance between us is a bit too strong for me to take as a coincidence."

Regina was rather curious about her family, so she had no issue with going to Gringotts to get a test done.

 _A few hours later..._

Regina stared at the blood test.

"Is this accurate?" she asked.

"We pride ourselves in our ability to track bloodlines. Why else would the wizards tolerate us more than the elves or the dwarves?" sneered the goblin.

"...So I really am related to Arthur and Mordred Pendragon?" she asked slowly.

Seeing the goblin's eyes widen, it shouted something in goblin tongue.

Within an hour, they ran the test again. And then four more times just to be sure.

"It would seem, Lady Potter, that you are the heir apparent to magical England. However in order to solidify your claim you will need something to prove your lineage to all who would oppose you," said Ragnok.

"...Would the sword that Arthur removed from the stone suffice?" she asked carefully.

"That sword has been missing for several centuries. It would take more than a carefully crafted replica to fool the older families."

Regina put her hand on the 'cross' pendant and channeled her magic into it.

Where the pendant had been was now a sword that radiated magic well beyond what any modern mortal could forge.

The goblins in the room had a sharp inhalation of breath in shock at the sight of the legendary blade.

Ragnok cautiously touched it, and his eyes flew open wide.

"This... this is true faerie magic. Where did you find it?!"

"I drew it from the Sorting Hat. Dumbledore seems to be working under the belief that I drew the Sword of Gryffindor and that it's still in the chamber of secrets," she said flatly.

"Have you actually seen the Sword of Gryffindor?" asked Ragnok intently.

"I wouldn't know what it looks like. Caliburn appeared in my hand and has apparently decided that I'm it's new owner," she replied. "Though if he honestly believes the sword came from the hat, there's a high chance it actually _is_ in there."

Either way, the news she was apparently the heir of magical England was a bit of a shock. The fact she was also Mordred's _niece_ through a sister that he never knew he had was an even bigger one.

When she told him the news, Mordred threw a massive fit.

"That... that bitch!"

"Who?"

"My mother. I knew I wasn't the first attempt she made to get her hands on the throne, but I never knew that one of the previous ones servived!"

"So you did have a sister then?"

"It's possible one of them managed to escape and live their lives outside the court. Arturia was shocked enough when I came forward as their son with that woman, and it took Merlin to convince them I wasn't joking," said Mordred.

"You know what this means, right?" said Regina.

"What?"

"It means I finally have a family I can actually call my own!" said Regina happily.

Mordred blinked, before gently ruffling her hair.

"Yeah, you're still my little sister after all," said Mordred gently.

He had seen what her life was like before he showed up. It wasn't what he would call pleasant, and the fact she could legitimately claim he was her 'cousin' meant the world to her.

Now they just had to do something about his name, because there was no way he could walk around calling himself Mordred and not be busted for it.

* * *

It was on a trip to get new food for her and Mordred to try that she ran into him. She knew right away he wasn't human, but she didn't particularly care about that.

"That's an interesting pendant you have there, miss. May I ask where you got it?" he asked.

"Are you a vampire or some other in-human creature?" she asked bluntly. "Because if you are, I feel obligated to warn you I have extremely deadly snake venom in my bloodstream and I don't think drinking it would do anything good for your health considering it was a magical one."

The man stared at her for a second or two before laughing outright.

"Actually I was going to offer you a chance to get a real magical education and some proper armor to go with the sword around your neck. Though you would have to put up with my little habits. I'm known as quite the prankster."

"Do I have to actually care about the victims, or be lenient to people who believe their bloodline makes them demi-gods despite the fact they don't even bother to work for it properly or show basic human decency?" Regina asked.

The man's grin was not for the faint of heart.

"Not really. If nothing else you can claim I put you up to it, and my reputation would be enough to keep the worst of them off your case about it. Besides, this means I get to enjoy the chaos of poaching the living heir of the Pendragon line from that fifth rate school."

"So...basically I get _real_ magical training and full permission to troll those nancy boys who think their pedigree is all that's needed to treat people like crap. Can my big brother come?"

"Absolutely. Having him would make things even more entertaining, especially later," said the vampire with an evil grin.

With Mordred with her, Regina had nothing to really fear from this vampire.

The look on Mordred's face upon meeting said vampire? Hilarious.

Learning that Regina had an almost free pass into Clock Tower, thus allowing her to withdraw from Hogwarts _legally_ and being given close to blanket permission to put the idiot nobility in their place?

It didn't take much to convince them.

* * *

 _Inside Clock Tower..._

Regina was _almost_ impressed...except she had chosen to attend Clock Tower over Hogwarts for another year. From what she could tell, Clock Tower was more like a college or university level school compared to the barely-acceptable high school equivalent known as Hogwarts.

She didn't have the first clue what any of the books said, because it was all above her level. Fortunately Zelretch had plans on how to correct that.

The plan involved forcing another student to teach her all the general basics of magecraft that anyone would know.

That student was a rather weak-willed and slightly adorable boy named Waver Velvet.

Regina had the distinct impression Zelretch had picked him specifically just to be an asshole.

She would be correct in that regard. She just wouldn't realize it until later...much, much later.

(On an unrelated note, she and Mordred happily gathered free blackmail for down the road to prove Lord El Melloi wasn't always a hard ass. He used to be a total wimp before he grew a pair, though his students would always look completely shocked when presented irrefutable evidence.)

Waver, when confronted with a cute girl roughly his own age that didn't look down on him for having a relatively new bloodline, had the most adorable habit of blushing whenever Regina honestly praised him for helping her learn magecraft as opposed to 'wizardry', which was mostly looked down upon by Clock Tower because it wasn't "exclusive enough".

That, and for all the pure bloods spoke about how 'great' their family lineage was, most of them didn't even _bother_ to practice their family magics or even _try_ to further what had already been discovered by their ancestors centuries ago. They just coasted on the accomplishments of people long dead without adding to it.

And that, to Magus-born, was an unacceptable.

Waver blushed as he looked at Regina. It was hard to believe she was only two years younger than he was.

She had almost caught up to the same level he was at, though her brother scared the hell out of him.

"Are you okay Waver? You look like you're getting a fever," said Regina 'innocently'.

Over to the side, Mordred was trying very hard not to laugh his ass off at Waver's face.

He wasn't the only one. Zelretch was gleefully taking photos every time Regina teased Waver.

"I... I'm fine," he said, barely able to look her in the eye.

With a proper meal plan, actual exercise and the fact she had started puberty sometime in the last year, Regina was already developing into quite a beauty. It did not help that Waver was already noticing girls in a different light since his voice started breaking last year, and he could tell that the thirteen-year-old girl was going to become a beautiful woman that would draw the eye of every guy around in a few years.

A two year age difference wasn't that big in the long term.

Regina made a show of checking his temperature by putting her forehead against his. Mordred choked back another loud laugh at the way Waver's face turned into a tomato as he tried not to faint from the blood rush.

He didn't mind the idea of Waver courting his sister...the kid was too spineless to do anything without her consent. Besides, he already showed great promise as a notable scholar who could at least keep up with her intellectually.

"Well if you're not feeling okay we can take a break for today," said Regina innocently.

Mordred about died from holding back his laughter at the look on Waver's face.

Regina had way too much fun teasing the kid.

On the plus side, Mordred at least had proof that she wasn't completely stunted in social development. She still had some ability to act like a normal girl.

Regina put aside her light teasing of Waver long enough to complete the assignment. Her way of using unconventional thinking to deal with problems was fascinating for him, as she was able to put to use the most basic of skills to overcome challenges that most Magus-born would develop overly complicated spells for, wasting time, energy and available resources.

It was a real eye opener for someone who didn't come from an affluent background like a lot of the older Magi, like his teacher Lord Archibald.

That guy was an arrogant asshole and total bastard.

"Hey Waver, do you want to see a movie with me and big brother?" asked Regina.

"A...movie?"

"You know, a film. There's one playing nearby and I could easily get an extra ticket. Onii-chan is really interested in seeing it because it has dragons and dwarves."

She heard good things about the _Hobbit,_ and Zelretch was nice enough to introduce them to the original _Lord of the Rings_ series. Once she got used to weilding Caliburn, he was also going to dump them right in the middle of the first book and let them fight it out until the ending of it.

After seeing the general time period and the movies, Mordred was really, really looking forward to it. He had also switched from boring drills to 'active' combat.

In other words, Mordred went after Regina with swords roughly the same size and weight of their own, wearing full armor. He didn't know whereZelretch found the set he gave Regina, but it definitely suited her perfectly. Though he found it somewhat disconcerting that Zelretch called it "Saber Lily" for some reason.

He was rather happy that Regina had taken to putting her hair up in a bow, rather than try to copy him too much. She at least, embraced the fact she was a girl.

Waver took one look at Smaug and was hooked on modern entertainment. It didn't take much to convert him to games, and that was only after Regina soundly beat him at _Risk_ and _Battleship_.

(Zelretch laughed for _hours_ when he caught Waver on the tactical online MMORPG cursing out kids younger than him.)

* * *

August came, and with it came the Hogwarts letter. She felt zero pity for the poor owl she basically handed over to one of the younger Magi to use in their experiments. Knowing the stupidity of the 'wizards', they wouldn't hesitate to send more anyway to try and drag her back.

So long as everyone knew Hedwig was off-limits...which was a given considering Zelretch had somehow given her beloved owl the ability to shoot _lasers_ with her eyes and upgraded her claws with metal talons...she could care less what happened to the other owls.

For some reason an unholy gleam of chaos came into her eyes the first time she saw Hedwig vaporize some poor bat familiar that came to close with her new eyes.

If she was ever forced to go back to Hogwarts, she would have far too much glee sending Hedwig after them.


	3. The Flower on the Battlefield

"Your footwork needs to be more evenly spaced!" shouted Mordred.

Regina took a breath for a moment, before charging again. At least she wasn't waving around the sword like an idiot anymore. Her attacks were a bit smoother around the edges, even if she did still waste a lot of energy.

On the plus side, she was no longer passed out during a full training session after wearing the full armor and swinging the sword for four hours straight. Now she just turned into a pile of mush that Mordred had to carry back to their rooms that all but crashed in the bathtub.

Any sense of embarrassment she might have at Mordred seeing her naked died after the second time she blacked out at practice. She already considered Mordred her big brother...besides, biologically they were both girls anyway.

It didn't hurt that every time she finally woke up, she would find herself curled up against Mordred like a big teddy bear.

"Again! There is no short cut to becoming a knight!" said Mordred.

Regina scowled at him.

"If I wanted bloody short cuts, I would have stayed in that hack school to become a witch!" she shot back.

"That's better! Your feet need to be more evenly spaced so that you can put your full strength into the swing!"

Mordred attacked again, cutting back his power enough that she could defend. Right now they were working on stamina, positioning and how to attack correctly. Regina was still a tiny thing and her stamina was barely acceptable for what Mordred considered 'standard' for a basic knight.

She wanted the same training he got, and he was more than happy to deliver as long as she kept coming back for more.

Regina did a slight spin that was a rough pirotte to deliver an attack right back at him.

Mordred looked at her oddly.

"Try that again."

Regina did another spin, allowing the momentum of moving her entire body to deliver an attack.

Mordred paused.

"What's wrong?"

"I've been going about this all wrong. Unlike me, you weren't built for heavy blows and basically tanking a hit. You fight more like a woman than a man," said Mordred.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"It means you might have more success in learning how to place your feet if we enrolled you in dance classes, preferably ones that have a lot of movement in the lower body," mused Mordred. "Even the armor is more feminine."

Regina perked up at that.

"And I have the perfect dance partners to go with me!" she said with cheer.

"We'll still work on your swing... you put too much unnecessary movement into it. But I'll leave the lower half to dance instructors."

* * *

 _A few days later..._

Waver was blushing up a storm...while Mordred was taking blackmail pictures for later, at the insistence of Zelretch.

"Why am I in tango and waltz lessons again?"

"Because I need a dance partner and for some bizarre reason Onii-chan has two left feet when it comes to dancing."

"I do not have two left feet! We just kept getting weird looks from everyone else!" said Mordred hotly.

Mostly because Mordred refused to put on different clothes and the more conservative dancers found his outfit to be highly scandalous.

Waver though, was a perfect gentlemen and he kept trying not to blush at the way the older women of 'distinguished age' kept cooing over how adorable he was and the fact he treated his 'little girlfriend' the way a properly raised boy should.

At least they weren't trying to set him up with anyone because they all assumed he was dating Regina.

"Look at the bright side... at least you'll be ready for any formal events in Clock Tower after this," said Regina.

Waver felt depressed hearing that. He would never be invited to anything like that, simply because his 'standing' was too low.

Regina gently coaxed him back to the matter at hand, which was dancing the waltz correctly.

Mordred was right...her footwork during their sparring _was_ much better after she started taking lessons. It didn't hurt that she got almost as much a workout doing ballet twice a week as she did from their sparring.

She had high hopes that they would soon be send to Middle Earth for a bit to quest with Frodo and the others.

But first, she had to make the most out of the fact she was dancing with Waver for a bit. He was cute when he blushed like that.

* * *

"These stick users certainly are persistent," said Mordred with annoyance. That had to be the fifteenth owl they had caught and handed over to the Magi for their experiments this week. They didn't even bother to look at the letters after that first howler went off...from Mrs. Weasley no less!

"And they _really_ think I'm going back to a school when the man leading their precious government thinks it's fully acceptable to send soul-eating monsters that guard their prison instead of proper guards from their law enforcement group around a bunch of impressionable children?" she said in disgust.

She only needed to be exposed to a dementor _once_ before she swore never go near one again without first mastering the Patronus charm. Though considering that was a highly advanced magic and she still had issues with casting wandlessly and silently (Mordred's insistence), that was going to be a long time away.

Seeing another owl wing it's way to her, Regina had enough and grabbed the closest thing at hand. Which, considering they were next to a kitchen was a frying pan.

There was a satisfying sound of a "THUMP" when the pan met the owl. Regina looked at the metal in her hands, then at the owl. A strange gleam entered her eyes at that moment...and Mordred had a strange feeling of dread enter his stomach.

That feeling panned out during their bi-weekly sparring practice, when he nearly had his head caved in. By a frying pan Regina pulled out of quite literally nowhere using her magic.

"What the hell?!"

"Fun fact...the frying pan spell is actually a basic household spell that has been used for centuries by irate witches who want to make their husbands listen to reason and defend the home. It's easy to cast and can be learned wandlessly and silently within a few hours of intense practice," said Regina, trying not to laugh at the look of horror on Mordred's face. "Could you imagine the other knights of Camelot being face to face with a woman capable of laying them flat with a frying pan? Makes it hard to deem us the 'weaker' sex if we can use a cooking implement more effectively than they can use their swords."

Mordred opened his mouth to say something, then seriously thought about that scene. Then a slow wicked grin formed on his face as he began snickering.

He could just imagine the look of disbelieving expressions on the other knight's faces if Gawain, Lancelot or even Arturia herself had been laid low by a common frying pan welded by an innocent woman.

"Okay, now I have to try that for myself if only for the amusement of seeing people's faces when I bash their heads in," said Mordred.

Regina flipped the pan to hold it out handle first. Mordred held it, and while the weight distribution was a bit off, it still easy to swing for someone who was used to a full broadsword.

(There would be many a tale told later after the battle of Helmsdeep of a shield maiden who went about killing orcs with a frying pan with terrifying efficiency... though not as entertaining as the fact Samwise Gamgee would later teach his young children the fine art of defending oneself with a common frying pan, which any proper hobbit should always carry. Handy things, frying pans.)

"I wonder if Waver would enjoy going to Middle Earth with us. Not as a knight, of course. What was the old term for young boys not ready to join the knights that took care of the equipment and the horses?"

"Stablehands. Squires," said Mordred. "Also, they were generally considered a source of 'relief' when you were out on the battlefield and it was too dangerous to bring in any of the women of disreputable repute. Arturia generally looked the other way so long as everyone pretended that they were 'training' with their followers. Though that could be because everyone was rather determined to keep that sort of thing quiet from her, and she genuinely did think they were actually sparring with their squires."

Regina almost choked on her tea.

"You do realize we're a bit young for that sort of thing, right?"

"Which is the _only_ reason I would agree to bring that boy along with us. That and if he tries anything I have no issue letting him be killed by an orc and claim he was just another casualty on the battlefield," said Mordred with a straight face.

Regina _did_ choke on her tea this time.

"Mordred!" she scolded him.

"I'm just saying," said Mordred 'innocently'.

"You are impossible," said Regina sighing with fond exasperation.

"So have you made it through the first book yet?"

"The beginning is extremely dry and it looks like it only really picks up by book two. I'm almost finished with the Fellowship at least."

"You didn't read the _Simarillion_ yet. If you think the _Fellowship of the Ring_ was a dry read, that book was even worse," said Mordred. "The _Hobbit_ was much better though."

Mordred had gotten hooked after the first book and had already finished the entire series...even if it took him a month to get through the _Simarillion_. He was currently reading _Dune_.

It wasn't like they had much to read (or the time) when he was actually alive.

* * *

 _With Waver..._

"You want me to be a squire?" he repeated.

"You wouldn't have to do much, just keep an eye on our supplies and the horses. Look at it this way, you'd be learning a practical application for your magecraft and no one would really care if you gathered up materials to use for your experiments in between battles. I know you really aren't much of a fighter, but I bet you would know how to make unstable explosions that you could hand over for others to throw at the enemy. It's just chemistry after all."

Waver perked up at that. He wasn't a sword fighter like Regina and her brother. He wasn't really good with knives or a bow. But he _was_ good at chemistry, potions and other unstable elements to create larger effects. And besides, this meant he could play around with his chemicals a bit more to learn what did and didn't work for later without having to deal with anyone going after his ass for blowing something up he shouldn't have.

Which was why he didn't really think twice about the odd bag Zelretch gave him in his favorite colors.

Regina wisely didn't inform Waver that the bag in question was inspired by the same one "Honey Lemon" used in the movie _Big Hero 6_.

He was still going to have to memorize _all_ the buttons and combinations on the bag before he could actually use it in a fight correctly...and without getting himself stuck again.

Fortunately Zelretch had also included the counter solution, but it was still highly embarrassing for Waver. He had to be stripped down to his boxers and his clothes cut off just to free him. In front of the girl he had a crush on and her brother.

Regina said nothing, and kept her silence on the matter. But Waver still had trouble looking her in the eye for a full month after that.

He was still keeping the bag though. It was highly useful _and_ it allowed him to play his greatest strengths when it came to an active combat situation.

"So what is the most reasonable time frame for us to have that vacation?" asked Regina.

"I'd say three, maybe four months if your ability to fight keeps as is. Gives you plenty of time to build up the right muscle groups _and_ train your witchcraft. Considering wand-spells take a lot less time to cast, you'd be better off practicing those for a bit until we return," said Mordred. "Besides, didn't Zelretch offer to teach you jewelcraft using all that crap you found in your vaults?"

When she had asked about her vaults, she had found one almost filled with jewels that were great for enchanting. None of them were lower than a "Grade B" when it came to that sort of things, according to the goblin appraisers.

Apparently one of her ancestors married into the Tohsaka family, but there had been an argument over how to raise the children and the wife took all the good jewels (and thus most of their liquid assets) with her in a show of spite against her arrogant husband.

From what she had been able to find out, it was this incident that caused the beginning of the slow, but firm decline of the Tohsaka line. While it might produce great Magi, it was rather close to being in debt and their brand of magecraft wasn't cheap in the least.

On the plus side, she was able to successfully graft the remaining crest onto her back at the recommendation of Waver when she found it. So she could now use Gandrs in lieu of her usual method of discipline if Mordred got out of hand...or anyone else for that matter.

(Zelretch still hadn't stopped laughing the day she mastered that particular spell within an hour and proceeded to use it on other Magi who annoyed her that day.)


	4. Flying in Middle Earth

Mordred's face was twitching and there was little doubt as to why.

"That damn vampire. He deliberately sent us to the wrong time frame!" he swore.

Regina sighed, before patting Mordred on the shoulder.

"You knew from the start that he was a troll and likes to mess with people for the hell of it. Did you really think my status as his personal apprentice would have spared us from his annoying sense of humor? At least he sent us to the right _world_ ," she said patiently.

"But I wanted to kill some orcs!"

"Yes, but if you recall in the _Hobbit_ , they got to kill a red dragon and there was a large amount of gold and jewels to be had. At the very least we can finally get some proper mithril to upgrade our armor, since we're currently working with enchanted steel," said Regina patiently. "Besides, didn't they have some big battle in the hobbit between a large number of orcs anyway?"

Mordred perked up at that.

"They also had wargs, which sound like rabid dire wolves from what I can tell," added Regina.

"Why did you bring me here again?" asked Waver, whimpering.

"Because if you join us now and when we get to the time frame we were originally planning to hit, you not only get rare ingredients but Zelretch has agreed to front the cash and connections needed to get you a Servant to prove yourself in the next Grail War. Or one of them anyway."

And by that, Regina meant that Zelretch would procure Iskander's cloak so that Waver could meet his Servant all over again just in time to cause some chaos.

Though he was debating on sending them to the Fourth Grail war in Fuyuki or the one where Mordred was summoned as Saber of Red. Or, and this was one he was only half-toying with, the Fifth Grail war.

Though he was absolutely shipping a Waver/Regina pairing...as was Mordred, in a rather discreet way.

"So what do we do now?" asked Waver, hiking up his new favorite bag on his shoulder. At least he had somewhat 'manly' colors... Regina had shown him what the original looked like, and people thought he was girly enough already.

"Well we can either find Thorin or Gandalf and ask to join the quest to restore the dwarves to the Lonely Mountain in exchange for some mithril or at least some upgraded armor that can easily be enchanted," said Regina.

"Or?" said Mordred.

"Or we show up in a place we _know_ for a fact they'll be at by a certain date by taking a short cut with the brooms I brought. Waver, consider this a crash course on wizard's broom flight, and if it makes you feel any better it's not really limited to witches," said Regina.

Waver took one look at the broom and asked "Are you sure?"

"In the magical enclaves, brooms are considered the equivalent of bikes," said Regina. "They even have a few sports leagues based around it, and there are very few female dominated teams that I know of."

Waver accepted his broom with a dubious look.

"How do I use this?"

Regina laid her broom on the ground and one near Mordred, before putting her right hand over it and saying "Up!" in a firm commanding voice.

The broom went up into her hand with a slight 'thwack' sound, but remained steady long enough for her to sit across it like one would a bike.

Mordred caught on first, and was the next to sit on his broom with a grin on his face.

Waver cautiously did the same, only for it to smack him in the face, before letting him get on.

Regina coached the other two in the basics of broomflight, and soon enough they were all flying through the sky...though it was clear Regina was absolutely born to fly, with all the aerial stunts she kept doing.

Mordred wasn't the only one to suffer a near heart attack when she did a textbook perfect Wronski Feint.

(On an unrelated note, Waver turned out to be just as much a flying junkie as Regina once he got the hang of it... Regina almost laughed herself sick when she found out _she_ was the reason Waver became such a die-hard Quidditch fan.)

* * *

Thorin was nearly impossible to find and Gandalf apparently sensed them coming and hid them all within the second day, suspecting the trio to have nefarious intent considering they were being chased by Azog the Defiler.

Which meant they had to resort to plan B. Wait for them to be surrounded and in need of aid, regardless of the source, and intervene long enough for the Eagles to arrive and convince the group to let them join in on the fun.

Fortunately this meant they had plenty of time to kill as it would take a week or two until that point. Mordred felt rather satisfied being able to see Edoras early since flying cut down on a lot of travel time. They would have swung by Minas Tirith, but considering Osgiliath was still under the rule of the orcs it was better to wait. Besides, Denethor was a jerk and there was no telling if Faramir or Boromir were even born yet.

"Think we'll run into Aragorn?" asked Mordred with interest. He threw another log onto the fire, as he had caught and killed a decent sized boar earlier. Fortunately for all of them, Regina happened to be more than a half-decent cook and had brought several herbs and spices, making most of their meals very appealing.

"If I remember the time frame, he's either acting as a ranger or he's still in Rivendell. My money would be ranger under an assumed name though," said Regina cheerfully.

Waver was too busy examining the plants he had collected to see if they were worth properly harvesting. He was rather enjoying this trip, which surprised him because he _hated_ camping.

"We could always visit Lothlorien and see it without Galadriel there. Though Celeborn might be less than enthusiastic to see us. Or we could hit Greenwood, now Mirkwood and kill some spiders... and yes Waver we would be more than happy to salvage a few live, if maimed ones for you to play with. I doubt the elves would care much about their fate."

Waver perked up at that. He might be a gentle person, but he was a Magus and having an unknown species of arachnid to dissect and experiment on did sound like a lot of fun. Besides, he hated spiders...they were so creepy!

"...Didn't the elves of Mirkwood have a large wine cellar that they didn't mind sharing to a certain point?"

"They are also highly suspicious of visitors, though we might earn brownie points if we helped to destroy a lot of spiders," added Regina. "Especially since Thorin was so bloody stubborn about the jewels the king asked for."

"Don't remind me! Old grudges aside, he should of thought of the practicality of pissing off his closest and most influential neighbors over some stupid rocks!" said Mordred. "Never mind the amount of good will he basically destroyed because they unleashed the dragon on Lake Town, even though those people gave them a warm welcome!"

"So we're agreed... we catch up to Thorin and the others at Lake Town and offer our assistance in at least acting as dragon-bait for them?" said Regina far too cheerfully.

Mordred smirked. There was a reason he loved his little sister... she had a deeply practical mind and wasn't afraid to show some good old fashioned common sense when it came to planning for a battle.

She made an excellent knight, for a woman who was proud to show off her gender, regardless of what the menfolk would say about it. Mordred was rather proud that his little sister had asked him personally to teach her, even though he _did_ kill his king and father.

Though considering the conversation she had with him about the matter, he had some doubts that the blame lay _entirely_ on his shoulders.

Arturia was a fool who was naive about what it meant to be king and failed to recognize the fact that the mask she showed the world in general was too perfect for mortal men to take...in any time periods. A good king thought of his people. A great one would recognize the necessity of having a chink in their armor so that the sheep that made up most kingdoms would be able to more easily relate to said king.

Mordred could easily recall several instances when Arturia's bad habit of presenting a 'perfect king' resulted in _him_ being sent out to deal with people who thought it unnatural for any king to be that saintly without some faults that could be acknowledged.

It was that mask that had caused the great divide between the knights in the first place, though the fact Arturia refused to acknowledge the fact that Mordred _might_ be just as good a king as her was yet another straw on an already broken camel's back.

"You know I bet you could potentially knock some sense into Thorin when we meet up with him. After all, both of you are the heirs of two great kings, though in his case he was kicked off his potential throne by an actual dragon rather than a representation of one," said Regina.

Waver paused in what he was doing, and looked at Mordred oddly. Then again, the knight _had_ been going under an assumed name in Clock Tower.

It wouldn't take much for someone particularly quick witted to figure out that the Knight of Betrayal was currently walking around as a Saber class Servant under the control of Regina if he went about using his real name. The Grail Wars _were_ fairly well known, after all.

Waver silently went over what he knew of knights, and only _one_ came up with the comparison of a dragon of any color.

He stared at Mordred in shock, before choking out "You're a knight of _Camelot_?"

"More specifically my dear big brother is Mordred Pendragon, son and heir of Arthur Pendragon," said Regina cheekily. Though she gave him a look. "I would still like to know exactly _why_ you were visiting Hogwarts for a Death Day party of all things."

"Eh, I got invited via the Bloody Baron after we became sparring buddies, and Nick was thrilled to have such a famous ghost at his party, even with my history," said Mordred shrugging. "Coincidentally did you know the Gray Lady's true name is actually Helena Ravenclaw, and the Baron was supposed to be her fiancee until she tried to break it off and he killed her? The blood on his shirt is hers, and he was so distraught at ending a famous line that he killed himself immediately after."

Regina looked at him in shock.

"I call bullshit."

"I'm telling the truth! Helena _hates_ telling the living about it, because they go on and on about her mother...which is why she didn't mind talking to me that much, when she found out who I was related to come to think of it... and it's not like the living really care all that much about ghosts anyway!" said Mordred.

"..."

Regina and Waver shared a look, and silently conceded Mordred had a point.

That being said Waver was still in shock he was sitting next to _Mordred_ of all people.

He got over it when he realized that Mordred was the same overprotective big brother that he had been before.

* * *

 _In Lake Town_

"This place is a dump," said Mordred, unimpressed.

"If you recall the 'Master' of this town is a fool with delusions of grandeur," said Regina dryly. "The only reason he hasn't been killed off yet is because no one sane enjoys doing the paperwork required to run a town and because he made that deal with the elves."

Mordred snorted in amusement.

"Now, we get the general supplies, head into the forest, then go massacre a shit ton of spiders until the company arrives and pisses off the elves. It shouldn't take too long and to be honest, after dealing with Aragog I'm not particularly fond of arachnids at the moment," said Regina.

"Who's Aragog?" asked Waver.

"A fifty year old Acromantula that Hagrid, who is the groundskeeper at Hogwarts, kept during the whole Chamber of Secrets incident the first time around," replied Regina. "It's why everyone assumed _he_ was the one to set the creature loose, despite the fact that there's no way in hell a spider could have killed Myrtle without leaving some mark."

Waver didn't particularly care about the spiders. As far as he was concerned any that survived a bored Mordred and Regina was fodder for any interesting or potentially dangerous experiments. Same with the orcs, which were a truly fascinating species to play around with.

On the plus side, he had earned Mordred's respect as a fighter when he was able to kill ten orcs on his own without throwing up once. Despite looking rather humanoid, those things were beyond foul and it wasn't like he was killing another human.

Though they were definitely going to see if the wood elves would be open enough to the idea of giving Waver a _proper_ short sword to use, rather than whatever he could scrounge up. He was too slight to use a broadsword like Regina or Mordred could, and his best asset was his brain and unconventional use of chemicals anyway.

At least Waver had gotten enough practice with his new bag that he could use short hand to create the proper combinations without having to look at it anymore.


	5. Meeting the wood elves

Legolas and Tauriel went to exterminate another spider's nest...only to find out that someone had already beaten them to it.

The elves stared down the humans with no little confusion and wariness.

"I got a few more to dissect later," said a third human, only to stop short at seeing the elves.

"Who are you and what are you doing in Mirkwood?" asked Legolas evenly.

"I thought this place was supposed to be called Greenwood," said the older human, who had the aura of a blooded warrior.

"If you recall, they changed the name because of the... infestation," said the female dryly.

"What's going on here?" asked the young male. He had a poorly made long dagger on his belt and an odd bag around his shoulder.

"It would seem the elves finally took notice they weren't the only ones playing exterminators to these pests. Spiders are only tolerable when they're smaller than your hand. Those who grow bigger than a kitten generally tend to forget their place," said the female primly.

"And what place is that?" asked Tauriel, playing along.

"Under the heel of my boot, as I crush it."

Legolas, in spite of his suspicion, found himself liking the young woman and her brother.

He shouldered his sword and looked at them for a moment.

"I am Legolas, of the woodland realm. This is Tauriel."

"My name is Regina, and this is my brother Mordred. Waver is our squire," said the girl, doing a proper curtsy.

"What business do you have in these lands?" asked Tauriel, a bit more civil than she normally would be.

"We are magic users, and none of us are particularly inclined to be merciful to overgrown pests. We thought Mirkwood would be a good place to gather ingredients for potions and the spiders would make perfect test subjects...and I highly doubt the elves would care overly much about the pests infesting their home," said Regina.

"You are wizards?" asked Legolas dubiously.

"No, Waver and I are Magus in training, meaning we haven't obtained a status as a full practitioner yet...hence why we had to come all the way here to obtain ingredients rather than simply get them from the supplies available to the older mages," corrected Regina.

All technically true, from a certain viewpoint.

Legolas looked at Tauriel. This was above what they were able to deal with.

Let the king sort through _this_ particular headache.

* * *

 _Inside the palace_

"So just to be clear, you came here _specifically_ to kill the spiders that have infested my kingdom...just so you can obtain ingredients from the forests," he said slowly.

"Do you _really_ think Saruman the White would deign to let apprentices use the supplies in Isenguard, when he could simply send us to gain 'real world experience' and preferably be killed by an orc, especially when one is a woman?" said Regina dryly, raising up an eyebrow. "Unlike Lady Galadriel, I do not have the experience or the collective respect of the council of wizards to be treated as an equal."

It was hard to argue with a point like _that_.

Mordred grinned at Waver.

"This is why I let my little sister do all the diplomatic talking, while I do all the fun of simply hitting things with my sword," he said smirking. Waver nodded in full agreement.

Regina had all the grace and aura of a proper queen, and a healthy store of common sense that was coupled with a no-nonsense attitude backed by a spine of steel.

When she wanted things done, she got them done...even if she did sound a bit like an overbearing mother when she did it.

Waver had to pause at that. Perhaps a 'queen' wasn't the best comparison to Regina. More like a strict, no-nonsense mother that genuinely cared for the people close to her that wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty and take up a sword against those that threatened her family.

In any case, they were given tentative permission to keep hunting the spiders. Though they had to be given an elvish escort, just in case.

It didn't take much to get on the good side of the wood elves. None of them liked the beasts, and seeing how even the weakest of the trio had no hesitation in killing orcs and spiders (though they would admit to giving some startled looks at that the innocent-looking bag Waver kept on him was capable of), well it wouldn't be the first time bonds had been forged in dirty fighting.

At least the elves were nice enough to give Waver a proper sword and a few quick lessons on how to use it. What really surprised them all was how quick Regina was to pick up on how to use a bow and arrow.

All Legolas had to do was give her one of the smaller bows, a quiver of arrows and show her how to proper knock the arrow and aim. After that she surprised almost everyone with the fact that the first time she properly fired one off, she was able to kill an orc from a distance normally only an elf could pull off.

The first time was a great surprise, but the next ten shots proved that her almost elvish ability to aim with her arrows _wasn't_ a fluke.

Regina was likely the only one _not_ shocked about the fact that she was able to hit an arrow that far. Her eyes were already trained to spot small targets that were bright gold in broad daylight while flying and dodging cannonballs trying to cave her head in. Add in archery and you made a deadly sharpshooter in any world.

(Coincidentally that was the main reasons the elves warmed up to her so fast.)

Mordred...well, he got on their good side when he was able to outdrink them and showed a proper appreciation for the elvish wine.

It was almost a shame when Thorin and his group arrived.

* * *

 _In Lake Town_

Regina and their group headed straight for Lake town, rather than hunt down any orcs. Their 'reasoning' was that the dwarves would have no other place to flee too after angering the elves, especially if they really wanted to take back Erebor. They would need supplies and new weapons for the ones taken from them by the guards.

Regina felt only impish satisfaction when they easily snuck up on Thorin's group in Bard's house.

She took one look at the dwarf who had been hit with an orc arrow, before turning to Waver.

"Athelias, now. And someone get some water. If you want to save your friend we'll need to purify the wound before it festers any further, and that trip down the river didn't help him any," said Regina briskly.

Waver was quick to dig into his special bag, which had a satchel built inside it through some special trickery of Zelretch. Something about a 'infinite space charm' that was apparently standard for the guy carrying all the supplies and gear that could fit into the opening.

He was not going to ask...Zelretch would make his life miserable anyway, and it was better not to invite the troll's attention on himself.

Regina went to work, using the few healing spells she knew to fix the dwarf's leg.

While his fever had finally gone down, he was in no condition to travel within the time frame needed for the hidden door.

After a brief and rather one-sided discussion considering Thorin was arguing against a girl who so far had an undefeated track record in making stubborn men see her way or else, the future Dwarf king agreed to take Mordred and Regina with them...if only because Regina openly admitted they wouldn't be adverse to acting as dragon bait so the dwarves had a better chance of making pot shots at Smaug while he was trying to eat them.

Considering all Regina wanted was a better suit of armor, preferably made out of mithril and Mordred just wanted to fight a proper dragon rather than their pathetic cousins that were so prevalent in their own world, it was an easy agreement to make.

After all, there was always a very high chance that the bait would be eaten and their agreement would be made moot, so Thorin really had nothing to lose by making it. Never mind the fact that he would be getting two blooded human warriors to make up for the fact he would be leaving one of his own men behind long enough for his injury to heal.

Waver had a basic knowledge of healing, one that he had gotten regular use out of and even improved with a few books from the elven library hidden inside the palace.

He was seriously considering looking into medically-based magecraft after this. His mind was already predisposed to making medicine and memorizing facts, and healers were always in high demand among the older families and well respected. So long as you could stomach the work and could maintain a basic standard, a lot of doors would open up regardless of your ancestry.

Besides, it meant he would be able to spend most of his time studying and doing something useful. While he could respect Enforcers he would be the first to admit he wasn't very good at field work.

* * *

Regina took _one_ look and Smaug...and discreetly brought out her phone.

Now _that_ was a proper dragon. As cute as Norbert had been...for all of a week...Smaug was a specimen that truly outshined any of his weaker, feral cousins.

Seeing the trouble Thorin and the others had with getting away from the great beast, Regina looked at Mordred.

"Time to save their sorry hides, or at least give them a better chance at making a counter attack," she said cheerfully.

"Just be careful," said Mordred.

"In these cramped spaces, I doubt I'll have _nearly_ as much trouble maneuvering compared to Smaug," she said.

She was small, a natural flier, and she had a fast broom. Three things that would make it _very_ difficult for Smaug to deal with her harrying him and acting as a distraction for the dwarves.

Regina got on her broom, and gave Mordred a cheeky grin before taking off.

She literally flew circles around Smaug, using her smaller size and superior manueverability to become a major thorn in the dragon's side. Sure, she had to dodge great gouts of dragonfire more often than not, but it only made things more exciting.

Regina laughed as she dodged another...this was far more fun and much more thrilling than dodging bludgers.

 _On the ground..._

"Is that crazy woman _outflying_ a dragon?" asked Thorin incredulous.

"Regina loves to fly, and to be fair she does have the advantage over Smaug in close quarters. The large open spaces you seem to favor make it easier to make Smaug's day difficult," commented Mordred. He grinned fiercely. "Oi! Regina! Let me have a go at that overgrown lizard!"

" _Take it outside, you idiot!"_ she shouted right back.

Mordred was having far too much fun already in this world...he couldn't wait to come back and fight at Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith later.

Regina goaded Smaug outside, where Mordred was waiting.

It didn't take much to piss off the dragon enough so that Smaug would target Mordred directly. All they had to do was hold up a mithril shirt that looked like it could fit waver and a few elvish jewels.

Dragons were notoriously territorial about their treasure hoard, so seeing that was like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

Mordred took a stance and pulled out his sword. His armor appeared out of nowhere, covering him completely, though he was grinning under that helmet.

Smaug lined himself up for the kill, and the dwarves all watched in horror as the young man prepared for a suicidal charge that he wasn't likely to succeed in.

" _ **Clarent Blood Arthur!**_ **(Rebellion Against my Beautiful Father!)"** shouted Mordred, channeling his prana into the sword which glowed an ominous red.

The amount of _power_ that came off the sword was enough to make the dwarves and Bilbo stagger back in shock.

It certainly did a lot of damage to Smaug, who was certainly shocked by the fact that a mere _human_ was capable of actually harming him with a single attack.

"...Crap...did Smaug just head to Lake Town?" asked Regina.

"I think so," said Mordred sheepishly.

"Right, you lot fortify this place in case he comes back, I'm going to warn Waver and try to mitigate the damage until that thing gets killed off," said Regina firmly.

 _With Waver..._

It took him a few minutes to get the mirror-phone out.

"Hello?"

" _Waver, it's Regina. The overgrown lizard is very pissed off and heading your way. Get Bard and his family out now before it makes landfall,"_ said Regina succinctly.

"It's _what?!_ " said Waver in horror.

" _Yeah, apparently Bilbo woke the damn thing up, so I had to act as distraction. Thing is I must have_ really _pissed Smaug off because by the time Mordred went to hit him with his Noble Phantasm the dragon decided he'd rather take out the humans since the fact Mordred was able to hurt him made him think twice about going for a second round,"_ said Regina sheepishly.

"...So just to be clear there's a very large, pissed off dragon heading this way that may or may not be injured from Mordred's sword about to set fire to the town..." said Waver, twitching.

" _Mordred did get a lot of video of me outflying a dragon though,"_ offered Regina.

"Next time, I'm going with you two. Clearly you both need a minder," said Waver deadpan.

Mordred he could get, but Regina? She was supposed to be the sensible one!

"Uh, small issue. It seems the company has woken up Smaug and he's heading this way in a fury," said Waver nervously.

The outcry to _that_ was predictable.

"HE'S WHAT?!"

Waver winced. He was so going to make Regina and Mordred pay for this!

(Coincidentally his irritation over the matter took a one-eighty upon finding out Mordred had managed to grab him a _mithril_ mail shirt he could wear under his clothes that could be easily enchanted and was far superior to any armor one of the more established lords in Clock Tower could get their hands on. He still cursed them out though.)


	6. The spoils and the World Cup

"So we're agreed then? Our share gets split between us so long as it's not part of dwarf heritage or the Arkenstone?" said Regina, staring down Thorin without hesitation.

"Agreed. You did keep the beast away from us long enough for us to escape, and your brother did deliver a mighty blow the likes of which I never would have seen," said Thorin.

Thorin almost went crazy about finding that stupid jewel, until Regina pointed out something obvious.

It would be much easier to _search_ though the ridiculous amount of treasure Smaug left behind if they divided it up into piles first, allowing each member to pick out choice pieces that they wanted for themselves and quietly taking their share.

Considering there was a literal mountain of the stuff and the jewel could easily be underneath the larger mounds of gold, Thorin had seen the logic in this.

The fact Mordred had managed to unearth a second mithril mail shirt that was much more Bilbo's size and handed it over to Thorin didn't hurt this argument. However since the trio hadn't been with them from the beginning, Regina had bartered their assistance by having their share split between the three humans instead of each taking a piece.

So long as _he_ got the King's Jewel, Thorin really didn't care what the humans took.

With that settled, the dwarves all started making smaller mounds, quietly pilfering bits and pieces that caught their interest. It certain was easier to sort through, that was for certain.

Regina kept picking up interesting pieces of jewelry, though none of the dwarves saw her slip them into her own 'infinite bag of holding', as Zelretch liked to call it.

Mordred...just kept tossing anything that looked mildly interesting into his own bag, while Waver kept grabbing books and gold.

They were going to make an absolute killing when they left this place.

 _Some time later..._

It was something of a major relief when the armies showed up to take position of the mountain.

Mostly because Thorin was getting on Regina's last nerve with his paranoia over the missing jewel, and the other dwarves were getting rather tired of the fact that the lone female in the mountain was the _only_ one brave enough to call their king on his bullshit and take all the ire he had about the Arkenstone still being missing off on them.

Regina had been fingering her frying pan more often than not of late, and if that jewel wasn't found then there was little doubt in the company's minds that she was going to attempt to knock some sense into Thorin, one way or another.

Hearing the loud "CLANG!" when Regina finally had enough, some of the braver dwarves went to see which gave in first... Regina's pan or Thorin's thick head.

(As it turned out, that was a tie. Though Thorin still had a nasty headache for _hours_.)

The battle was rather fun and a good precursor to the fights they were going to have when they left. Waver was absolutely going to hit a proper bath the _second_ they got back, as well as an overdue laundry day. He refused to go noseblind over what he considered a serious personal hygiene issue, a fact that Regina was firmly in agreement with.

Mordred, being from a less 'civilized' time when it came to personal hygiene and medical advances, honestly did not see what their problem was. He was used to going around without having a proper bath for weeks at a time.

You were lucky to find a clean river or lake to jump in, during a quest or general travel. It wasn't worth the headache of paying people to heat up the water and lug it up to your room, and besides in his time doing it too often generally opened up suspicions that you were up to something nefarious or general witchcraft.

That being said, even he was eager for a hot bath and a proper meal he didn't have to cook with actual spices and seasoning. They had run out a few days ago and there was no actual time to get more.

On the plus side, Thorin survived because of the timely intervention of Regina and her well dented frying pan. If it wasn't for the fact that friend and foe were heavily mixed, she would have used Caliburn's power.

Well, perhaps not. She was still somewhat drained from fueling Clarent Blood Arthur against Smaug. She had slept like the dead that night and it had taken a day or two for her to be anything other than lethargic.

Since they _did_ help out and none of the dwarves had seen them take anything, they left with some large bags of gold and mixed jewels (which Regina was so using for her magecraft practice, they were too scratched up for anything else) and an agreement that she could come and get a set of armor made based on the set she currently had in mithril rather than the odd metal that had the dwarves confused. Mostly as long as she could provide more of it for them to play with, preferably without the enchantment.

She'd give them a few years when they retook Moria for a time and had actual mithril to spare to take them up on the offer. She just wanted her own bed and to see Hedwig.

After all three of them came to the unspoken and unanimous agreement to punch Zelretch in the face on general principles (followed immediately after by a hot bath, a large meal and a good night's rest all around) they brought out their spoils.

* * *

Zelretch took most of the jewels and began to sort them out for which would be acceptable for magecraft and which were better off being sold later to jewelry stores.

"I have three tickets to the top box at the Quidditch World cup," said Zelretch grinning.

He wanted to see the chaos that would occur when Regina briefly returned to the magical society she had left at such a public event, where she was sure to run into her former friends.

Waver perked up at that, having become just as Quidditch crazy as Regina was.

"What should we bring?" asked Mordred.

"Magical tent, Hedwig, some snacks to trade with the other party goers, booze and the best earplugs money can buy," said Regina without hesitation. "Oh, and if possible some of those funny brownies. I'm sure we could get some hilarious photos of Waver if he tried some of those."

Mordred cackled. Waver was so uptight that the idea of him eating "funny brownies" was too hilarious to resist.

"I am so in on that action! I'll get the brownies and the good booze, you get the magical tent and the snacks!" said Mordred.

"With Hedwig acting as Guard Owl and frying anyone that tries to break in," said Regina...which had both of them laughing.

Hedwig the Empress (and that was her official title in Clock Tower, to their open amusement) was downright terrifying and openly territorial of her 'chick'. For an animal familiar, she was absolutely top class.

More than a few of the older Magi were rather appreciative of how intelligent and regal she was, even if she had started out as a common post owl.

Any attempts to 'buy' her from Regina usually ended up badly, because Hedwig was just as aware what happened to 'pets' or animals around a Magus.

Zelretch laughed his ass off the first time Hedwig basically set fire to some arrogant Magi's ass with her new and improved laser eyes. He also laughed when she mauled the hell out of some prestigious heir's face when he made a disparaging comment about Regina learning to be a proper knight from her brother, because only an Enforcer would dirty their hands like she was doing.

Basically the vampire felt far too much amusement in hearing the screams of agony and pain from the uptight nobles in Clock Tower being laid low by an _owl_ of all things.

Then again, Regina found it so amusing she had some of the screams of mercy recorded. They cheered her up when she had a bad day.

* * *

 _At the World Cup_

Between Regina and Waver, they got the tent put up.

The tent was going to be their 'base' the next time they visited Middle Earth. Or any other world that was lacking in the basic amenities like working toilets, bathing facilities, and (this was how she sold Mordred on the idea) a place where they could set up a sterile field for emergency healing or ingredient prep for potions and the like.

No warrior wanted to be treated on a dirty field with rain on them while they lay dying, when a simple tent that could be kept clean of germs and other bad things could mean the difference between life and death.

Mordred wasn't going to call the two on the _real_ reason they got the tent though. Regina just didn't want to put up with substandard personal hygiene ever again. She might tolerate the whole camping thing, but she had been the most fastidious about keeping clean next to Waver.

The World cup was very lively, and they were enjoying it quite a bit. The tickets they had allowed them to be in the top box, but their tent was right in the center of the Irish section. Mordred cited that at least the Irish would have the best drinks.

It was as she was getting some water that they ran into a snag.

"Regina? Is that you?" said a familiar voice.

Regina turned and winced.

"Hermione. Ronald," she said evenly. "How the hell did you even recognize me with my back turned?"

"Hedwig," said Hermione.

Regina wanted to sigh, but at least she wasn't alone to face her former friends.

"Uh Regina, who are they?" asked Waver nervously.

"Waver, meet Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley and his sister Ginerva, or Ginny. This is my _boyfriend_ Waver," said Regina, turning around to ignore them in favor of getting the water.

Waver blushed like a tomato at that. It was the first time Regina had publicly acknowledged him as a boyfriend in front of anyone.

Seeing Ron about to erupt, Regina shut him down effectively with a Look. It was not a nice look.

"Before either of you get into a self-righteous rant or demand to know why I transferred out, I would like to remind both of you that none of you are related to me. You are not my father or mother. I have no obligation to tell you a damn thing about my life or my plans for the future, and when I got a better offer when it came to schooling I took it. Hogwarts is a joke compared to the school I go to now."

Seeing Ron puff up in anger at that, Ginny was the one who broke the unspoken tension between the former Golden Trio.

"Where do you go now?"

"Waver and I are students of Clock Tower, though I got in with an apprenticeship. Waver actually helped me to catch up on my magical studies."

"And how old are you?" asked Hermione to Waver.

"I'll be sixteen this year," said Waver. At least his blush had diminished by this point.

"Waver happens to be in the upper percentile of our classes, even if the teachers look down on him for being a third generation Magus," said Regina proudly. "And he is excellent in potions and chemistry."

Waver looked a little embarrassed.

"Yeah, but you're more respected among the older crowd than I am. Besides, you have a real knack for potions... I just helped you learn how to do the prep work properly since your previous teacher is an idiot."

If it wasn't for the fact they were told to come straight back to the camp site, which was well away from any decent action and the merry making, Regina had no doubt her friends would have tried to guilt her into returning to that fourth rate school.

To be honest she would rather deal with the internal politics of Clock Tower than the bullshit she left behind. At least there she was allowed to hex someone to hell and back if they pissed her off without the other party getting nothing more than a simple slap on the wrist and her being told off for it.

In Clock Tower, money and a long lineage might get you a long way when it came to being _respected_ among your peer group, but the _real_ movers and shakers like the unofficial "Queen of the Clock Tower" Lorelei would only respect someone who could do amazing feats on their own merit, without any real backing of their families or relatives to get things done.

In other words, they would have to be badasses in their own right without relying on outside help to get any real attention. Just the way Regina liked it.

And from what Waver saw, Draco Malfoy was all talk and very little skill. Easy prey for the less moral Magi to use him for experiments and steal all of his family's research and mysteries for their own.

Like any true Magus, Waver looked upon Draco Malfoy and felt only disgust at the fact he wallowed in past glories rather than work towards the Root like any other person would, or at least expand on what his ancestors built upon.

And if someone who was only a second generation Magus could feel that on a single meeting, he could only imagine what the older and more established families felt.

Regina felt openly smug at the fact Waver openly dismissed Draco on sight. It was clear the so-called Slytherin Prince was furious at being ignored so thoroughly by what he considered a foreign wizard.

"So you realized you weren't good enough for a proper pureblood, Potter?" said Draco with a sneer. "You had to go whore yourself out to a foreigner?"

Regina looked to the woman next to Lucius.

"Lady Malfoy, you may wish to muzzle your progeny. His yapping is unbecoming of a proper gentlemen, much less a son of the house of Black. Unless Draco wishes to renounce his ties to your original family and simply remain the rather paltry child of the Malfoy clan, which as I recall is a French family that got kicked out," said Regina with a sniff.

Narcissa immediately shut her son up, though she was both shocked and pleased at the way Regina discreetly put her idiot son in his place. Clearly she needed to have words with Lucius about how their son was raised if he would openly embarrass himself in front of a powerful heiress of _two_ ancient and noble houses of good breeding.

Particularly since she knew damn well Regina was the heiress to the Black family, which was her own.

"As for your other comment, _Draco_ , Waver isn't a foreigner in the least. He is a proper British magus who consistency gets top marks in his classes at Clock Tower. He is the one who helped me get up to speed on my own magical studies," said Regina cooly. "At least _he_ isn't afraid to get his hands dirty in the name of spell research and creation."

Draco looked furious, however Narcissa looked calculative.

"Mr. Velvet, did you pay your way into Clock Tower or were you sponsored?" she asked calmly.

Waver blinked at that.

"I got a partial sponsorship through my mother, though I recently got a full one from an established force in the Association. So long as I keep my studies up, I should become a full Magus by the time I'm eighteen."

And by that, he meant Zelretch had offered to pay his tuition and board fees so long as he continued to work with Regina. Waver could put up with a lot of crap from that old vampire if it meant he got a full scholarship and access to notes he would have had to give up an arm and leg for otherwise...quite literally, in some cases.

Besides, Regina was someone he just _knew_ he'd only meet once in a life time. He'd be a complete idiot to let her slip away from him.

Narcissa looked him over properly. While he was clearly a half-blood, he also managed to get into a known prestigeous school that was far more exclusive and well respected than even Hogwarts at such a young age. Anyone who graduated from there could literally get almost any job they wanted in most of the magical enclaves. The Unspeakables in particular generally celebrated whenever they were able to tempt a Magus into their department.

So the fact Regina had apparently decided to court a young, well spoken Magus as her potential husband was quite acceptable in the eyes of the family.

Considering how muddled some family trees had gotten from marrying the cousins a little too often, a bit of fresh blood surely wouldn't go amiss.


	7. Reactions and Interludes

_**Semi-long A/N slash Rant:**_

 **Okay, since a certain "Guest" reviewer has firmly irritated me to the point I have deleted the hateful comment they left, I would like to clarify a few things that people keep bringing up.**

 **Namely the fact that certain 'people' seem to view Mordred as "transgender". Yes I DO in fact know that the definition of the word means someone born to one gender but identifies as the opposite.**

 **However here are a few key points people seem to miss, likely because they haven't actually BOTHERED to actually watch/read _Fate/Apocrypha_ or even look up the series in the first place. Let along considered things from a historical perspective.**

 **When Mordred was summoned, Shishigo made a comment about how the "Knight of Betrayal" was a woman, which annoyed her so much she drew her sword on him to never bring it up again. If anything Mordred is more of a tomboy, not a transgender, for valid reasons. Then again he could have just summoned her during that 'time of the month'.  
**

 **During the time period Mordred was alive in, women's rights were almost entirely nonexistent. Hell, even Arturia's gender was mistaken for a man according to _Fate/Zero_. So the fact Mordred would prefer to be addressed as a "man" is simply because of the time period she grew up in, when men had most, if not all the power. There's also the fact that it was unheard of for a woman to be a Knight.**

 **Also, it's simply less confusing than using gender neutral terms all the time.**

 **So please, do not post any hateful reviews on the story. Also, if I catch any more like the one who left such a nasty guest review because they couldn't be bothered to post under their username, I am happy to report that I can and WILL delete them from here on out.**

 **I post these stories for entertainment purposes, and I do not appreciate such nasty comments on the review page. If you don't have the guts to post it under a proper username, it will be removed.**

* * *

The World Cup was amazing. Waver and Regina loved every minute of it, as did Mordred when the blood finally started flowing. It was over far too quickly for anyone's taste.

And then a bunch of drunken idiots had to ruin everything by dressing up as Death Eaters and causing a panic. There really was only _one_ response to that nonsense.

"My lady Hedwig, would you please be so kind as to show your royal displeasure to them interrupting your hunting time and teach these peasants the error of their ways?" said Regina sweetly.

Mordred cracked up at the imperious hoot the owl gave hearing that, puffing up her feathers in an important way. He laughed even harder when the owl did in fact take off and start using her upgraded eyes and talons to really cause all sorts of hell on the idiots outside.

Best of all, the majority of the action was right outside their tent, which meant he got to enjoy it all while drinking a beer and sitting in his fold up chair.

"Almost as good as the actual game!" he said, toasting the owl.

Regina clinked her own bottle to that. It wasn't like Mordred gave a damn about underage drinking... in his time the drinking age was up to the parents, and it wasn't that uncommon for twelve or even thirteen year olds to drink hard liquor with their fathers.

Though to be fair, most noble children _did_ start on wine at least.

By the time Hedwig finished off the Death Eaters...or to be more precise, when some idiot set off the Dark Mark and scared everyone off, most of the beer had been consumed.

Waver helped Mordred put the tent away, since Regina was out cold.

She _had_ been woken up from a sound sleep before, and the alcohol's effects didn't help in that regard.

(On the side, Mordred was bribing Hedwig with live mice for the good laugh and the very amusing show she had given him. He laughed even harder at the headline the next morning about a demon owl.)

* * *

 _In the magical enclaves..._

The reaction to finding out _exactly_ where Regina Potter had disappeared to for a little over a year came with mixed results.

Most people were angry she abandoned her Hogwarts education. After all, wasn't the thousand year old school the _premiere_ school in England to learn magic? Was it suddenly not good enough for her?

Those that knew exactly WHAT Clock Tower was and what being a student there meant, especially since she had obtained an apprenticeship for the full length of her schooling realized that Dumbledore's so-called protege was far more interesting and had far more potential than they originally anticipated. Dumbledore himself had been laughed out of Clock Tower when he attempted to apply and it had nothing to do with his lineage or fame. That school only accepted the truly talented, as well as the best and brightest...never mind that only the most established pure blood lineages from around the world could access the full spectrum of what the school had to offer.

To those who had an actual grasp of what power really meant, in any form, the fact Regina was now pubicly acknowledging that she was a Magus who followed the Old Ways of the Druids, it meant that a rather uninteresting pawn had suddenly turned around and become a knight or even a queen right under their noses.

Any idiot could use a wand and call themselves a witch or wizard. It took someone with a greater degree of skill, ability and intelligence to call themselves a Magus.

Regina wouldn't even need to sit her O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s if she graduated from that school...she could write her own ticket into any job she wanted.

For some, the revelation had come as a major shock.

Hermione had been most struck by the massive change in Regina's bearing. Gone was the uncertain witch she had known who generally caved to her friend's unspoken demands so they wouldn't leave her, and in her place was a woman with the bearing of a knight...no, a _king_. Regina held herself proudly, but without arrogance. There was a certain way she moved that spoke of long hours of harsh training, though she had the grace of a dancer.

And the way she easily reprimanded them without being insulting about it spoke volumes of how her mindset had firmly changed. She wasn't afraid to speak her _real_ opinion anymore, or let her mind be known in spades.

Hermione looked at the picture in her room.

Had Regina truly been happy as their friend, when they had gotten so used to pushing her around and only considering her own opinion of the matter as an afterthought?

Considering how miserable she had been when Regina left, as no one else had been willing to put up with her bossy nature or study habits, Hermione had to take a long hard look at herself.

Perhaps Regina could put in a good word at this new school she was attending, and they could rekindle their friendship properly.

Ron was angry and hurt after the confrontation in getting water. Bill and the others had been silently impressed when they first met Regina, but none of them had been through the same adventures they had in Hogwarts. The way she so easily dismissed him...it hurt. It hurt just as bad as hearing everyone talk about his brothers and silently compare him to them.

Ginny barely knew Regina, but after seeing her properly since the incident in the Chamber she now fully idolized the girl. Depending on what path Regina took, Ron had absolutely no doubts Ginny would do her best to follow in her footsteps.

He wasn't sure how to feel or react to the revelation Regina had moved on from him. He didn't like it, not one bit.

* * *

Regina and Mordred were fighting, but this was normal for them. Except it wasn't.

Regina was using Caliburn rather than her practice sword and Mordred was using Clarent Blood Arthur.

The reason for that was simple... Mordred had deemed Regina's stamina and strength well enough that she was ready to practice with her actual sword rather than cheap modern ones. After all, the only way she would be able to draw out Caliburn's full potential was if she was used to it being in her hand and pulling on her magic.

Waver, as usual, was keeping half an eye on the two while reading a book. He found it fascinating to see the way Mordred trained his little sister and Master.

Watching Regina fight was more like watching an elite dancer in her element. It was more of an art form than a true battle, and he was always fascinated by the grace in which she moved.

She was even faster when she had her upgraded armor (which looked almost indentical to the first save for the slight sheen of the mithril) on, as opposed to the original set which was a bit heavier. Though that was possibly because the original armor didn't have charms to do anything about the weight. Mordred had been quite firm on that regard, saying that making it feel lighter would have been akin to cheating and she needed the extra training.

Regina had agreed, which was why her armor felt as heavy as it looked.

Today though, they had forgone the armor entirely and it was clear there was a major difference in speed on Regina's end because of it.

She wasn't _quite_ up to Mordred's level, but her skills and ability was edging closer to a lower ranked Servant. Most of her defensive ability came from her armor, and Caliburn was in a class on it's own. However her combat skills required time and experience, which she had plenty of because she was still growing.

One thing was for sure...any worries about her not growing into her body went right out the window when she found out she had to get the armor adjusted because her bust had grown at least two cup sizes and she had to get a new wardrobe because she had finally begun to reverse all the damage the Dursleys had done to her as a child. She no longer looked like a pale rake...she had hips, thighs, an actual bust and a dancer's build that was almost pure muscle. Her hands were calloused from hours of training and her stamina was well above that of an Olympic medalist.

Say what you would about Mordred's brutal and very old fashioned idea of training methods...they might be considered inhumane by modern standards but they _worked_.

Then again, modern parents were all about 'safety' and 'restraint'. Mordred had grown up in a time period where people knew perfectly well safety was an illusion and that skimping out on vital training was a quick way to get killed in a full battle.

Present day society preferred to hide behind the illusion that the wolves at the door were merely feral dogs, and looked down upon the men and women who kept that illusion going because they had no issue with killing other humans if necessary.

Regina had trouble deciding which time period was better to exist in... she was born in the wrong time period for a knight and blooded warrior, but it was the best time for women since they had actual rights and freedoms to make them almost equal to men on multiple levels.

Mordred had sympathized about that particular issue.

Being a woman in the age of Knights _sucked_. People could talk about chivalry, men in armor and how 'exciting' it must have been back before the dark ages went away...but they were also quick to forget the health issues, the fact that women basically had no rights to speak of, the poor food quality, the lack of education and the fact that the reason the code of knights _existed_ was to create an acceptable standard for the higher class of fighters.

Girls were married once they hit puberty or had their first blood, or very soon after. They started popping out children long before they were even eighteen and were expected to keep the house while their husbands went off to battle or the fields.

Boys were lucky to live past twenty, married young and aged even faster because of the living conditions back then. Training was harsh and unforgiving because it was a necessity to insure the young idiots actually lived past their first battle and were of more use than just cannon fodder for the more experienced fighters.

Human rights were a joke, and forget about child welfare laws or proper medicine. You were _lucky_ if you had access to a proper doctor, or at least the coin to see a decent one if you needed it.

So yeah, Mordred could sympathize with the fact that her skill set was wrong for the time period, but then again she never would have flourished in one where she could have shined brightly as a flower in the field of battle.

Regina's legend would have been cut short by men who would have been very unhappy about a _woman_ rising above what they considered her 'place' in the world, regardless of who she was related to. He had no doubts Arturia would have tried marrying her off just to keep the peace, which was a disaster waiting to happen. Never mind the fact she openly admitted to being a Wiccan, which was just a new way of saying "Druid" in his opinion. The belief system was certainly close enough for it to be mistaken as such, and they followed roughly the same gods and goddesses, never mind the practices.

Considering how strict the Christians and Catholics were, being so heavily influenced by Rome, they would have been very quick to go after her as a witch...ironic, considering she _was_ one.

Mordred silently shook his head.

It was best for all involved that Regina was born in this time period...at least here her sharp tongue and royal demeanor wouldn't get her killed or worse.

Besides, from what Zelretch had mentioned she was likely to quite enjoy these...Grail Wars, once her skill level and ability was high enough to fool the other Servants and Masters into believing she _was_ a Saber class Servant like him.

That ought to be very fun indeed.

"Enough," said Mordred, and Regina allowed Caliburn to take the odd standby form it apparently favored.

At least she wasn't completely exhausted like she used to be. She could actually walk to her room and eat something before passing out now!

That being said, Waver had taken to learning acupuncture since he wasn't quite confident enough to learn massage. Regina appreciated the attention either way, because it helped to work out the knots in her body.

That, and she never had any issue getting him to cuddle with her. Getting him to blush was one of her secret past times.

"You have improved greatly since we started training," said Mordred. "I can only say that it is a testament to your own ability and stubbornness. I've known young boys with less drive to improve themselves who have taken four times as long to get where you are now."

Regina beamed at him. Coming from Mordred, that was a true compliment as he didn't give them out lightly.

"So did Zelretch say _which_ Heaven's Feel he was sending us to once we've had our fill of Middle Earth?" asked Regina, accepting the water from Waver.

Mordred briefly rested his eyes on Waver.

"He said something about the fourth, followed by the alternate one that took the place of the fifth because someone stole the Greater Grail during the third," said Mordred. "He didn't really explain what he meant outside of the fact that Waver was present during the first and I was summoned in the second."

From what Zelretch implied, Arturia would be present in the Fourth war as Saber.

Now if Mordred had just been summoned, he would have demanded that Zelretch send him there _now_ to force Arturia to acknowledge him as their equal, not just another knight.

However being around Regina and training her had caused a slight change in his demeanor. He had mellowed a bit about the matter, mostly because when he told her his wish to prove to his 'father' that he had just as much right to be King as the King of Knights himself did, Regina had found a block and put Caliburn into it.

She had been able to remove it again no problem, which left Mordred.

Since it was the same sword and still had the enchantment to determine those who were worthy of rule upon it (though weakened), Mordred had gone up to try his luck.

He had felt more nervous than the first time he had gone into battle. What if he wasn't worthy? What if his dream to prove Arturia wrong about him being unworthy as a King would never be?

Mordred had put his hand on the hilt, taken a deep breath and cast aside his doubts.

The look upon his face when he was able to pull the sword free from the stone was hard to describe, but there were definitely tears.

Even after what he had done, even after everything that happened, Caliburn had _still_ judged him as 'worthy'.

Mordred had cried, mostly out of relief and joy, that night for hours. Regina had stayed by his side the entire time, just being there for him.

"Anyone up for pizza? I really don't want to deal with the regular cooking and I could go for something more modern," suggested Regina.

With her work out regimen, she could eat anything she wanted and not gain a pound that wasn't muscle. A fact she took great glee and full advantage of, so long as she didn't return to a 'Dursley diet' as she called it.

She was developing quite the culinary palate.

Seeing the two boys perk up at the suggestion, Regina grinned. This was the way things should be.


	8. Chaos and Cores

Regina was pissed, Mordred was livid and Waver just wanted a crack at the library the school was reported to have.

What could cause such varied reactions?

The wizards apparently hadn't taken the hint that Regina was tired of their bullshit and had managed to drag her into a magical tournament against her will via a magical geass that she never agreed to or was told anything about.

Once this was over the higher ups in the Mage's Association was going to have a _field_ day with the so called "Ministry of Magic", because if they could rope someone like Regina into a magical geass without any warning like that, then there was a far too high possibility that the idiot wand wavers could do the same to the more established lines.

And that, for the highly paranoid and cutthroat group known as the Mage's Association, was absolutely _not_ acceptable.

(Considering this was coming from the same group of people who wouldn't hesitate to massacre an entire town's worth of people down to the last infant in the name of research, that was saying a lot.)

Regina was positively fuming about the whole mess. She hadn't thought these fools would stoop so low as to use an old piece of homework to drag her into this farce.

At least she wasn't forced to sleep in the Gryffindor tower again. She had comandeered one of the many abandoned classrooms and they had set up their magical tent, with Zelretch acting as their 'headmaster' simply because he was Regina's teacher.

Since they insisted on dragging her to this farce, Regina had absolutely no issue with unleashing a new form of hell for all the adults in the castle.

She was going to introduce the troll of Clock Tower to the Weasley twins.

(A shiver of doom went down the spines of McGonagall and Snape.)

Regina walked up to where Fred and George was with a familiar smirk on her face.

"Gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to someone who can up the ante when it comes to causing chaos, anarchy and all around mischief," said Regina.

Seeing she had their full attention, she opened the door to reveal Zelretch.

"Meet the Wizard Marshal and the master of the Second True Magic, Zelretch. When he gets bored, the Magus all run for fear of their sanity and their dignity," Regina said smirking, before turning to an increasingly amused Zelretch. "Fang face, meet the two biggest hellions in Gryffindor. Gentlemen, I leave you to discuss the terms of McGonagall's future retirement and Snape's hell."

Regina left behind a trio of unholy grins and twisted cackling. Introducing Zelretch to enablers and co-conspirators would never end well...but fortunately she knew they wouldn't be targeting her specifically.

* * *

Regina was overheated again. Mordred was very worried about her.

"What the hell is going on? She was fine a while ago, and now her entire body is going into overdrive," said Mordred.

"While she may have taken on the remnants of her ancestor's crest, she still hasn't undergone the rest of the conversion from witch to Magus," said Zelretch. "This is just the beginning stages of it."

"Conversion?" said Waver in concern.

"You can't be a witch or a Magus at the same time. While it might seem like they use different sources, the fact is that you're simply drawing from the same source using different methods. The fact she primary uses jewels or her sword simply delayed matters. There's a reason I sent you after Smaug, rather than drop you off in the timeline you were after," said Zelretch.

Seeing he had their full attention, Zelretch borrowed a board and some chalk.

"A witch or wizard draws from the leylines in the earth, filtering it through their core which is a metaphysical state. A magus, however, draws from their 'circuits', though crests add an extra sort of 'flavor' or preset what one can use through the leylines. Right now she is in a very delicate balance of having a core and a set of circuits, however once that balance is tipped she will have to choose which one she wants to be. What she's going through now will result in one or the other being 'converted' into a different filtering system, though some things will remain from the original," said Zelretch.

"What exactly will she get from the conversion?" asked Mordred seriously.

"Well if she remains a witch, her circuits will never achieve their full potential and she will forever remain a third rate Magus. She'll have a few extra tricks up her sleeve, but that's it, however her core will at the very least double in size," said Zelretch.

"And if she chooses to become a Magus?" asked Mordred.

Zelretch's smirk would have made the lesser wizards faint. It was that terrifying.

"If she becomes a full magus, she'll keep the spells she frequently uses or is the most familiar with, but her core will be halved. On the other hand, her circuit count will multiply to something a bit closer to what Arturia had when she claimed Excalibur and put her on the same level as you," said Zelretch. "At the very least, her stats will match your current ones, or possibly one level above. She won't be the same as Arturia if they were summoned as Saber, but that's mostly because that particular Servant has the boost that comes from being one of the most well known legends on the planet."

"You said there's a reason you sent us after Smaug. Why?" asked Mordred.

"You remember how people said that Arthur was the embodiment of a red dragon, and that 'he' had the core of one?"

Mordred and Waver's eyes widened comically at that.

"You're not saying..."

"I'm saying that with the right tweaks, we can give Regina the core of Smaug who was the closest thing to a true Phantasmal Beast in Middle Earth. And, considering her heritage, would also be the closest match to Regina's own magical inclination which means a transplant would be feasible enough to pull off. However it depends on which path she wants to take," said Zelretch grinning.

Regina groaned, before glaring at him.

"I have only one question...will I be able to turn into a proper dragon if I transplanted Smaug's core into myself? And I don't mean one of the paltry imitations that exist now."

"You were born of an animagus and spent your formative months in the presence of them. I'd be more surprised if you _couldn't_ turn into a red dragon," said Zelretch.

"Would I lose my inheritance if I became a Magus?" asked Regina seriously.

"Are you kidding? Magi are more highly regarded than _normal_ wizards. You could write your own career path as a Magus without having to jump through nearly as many hoops as a witch," scoffed Zelretch. "Not even Dumbledore was considered good enough to become one."

"And I would be able to tell those asshole pure bloods where to shove their demands, especially the Ministry?" asked Regina intently.

After seeing the practically unlimited power Fudge had, she had no intention of ever letting those bastards have a say in her life ever again. The last thing she needed was something as stupid as a marriage contract to ruin things.

Zelretch smirked at her.

"As a Magus the only one you'll be accountable to is the Mage's Association. The Ministry has no say in what we do so long as we maintain the Statute of Secrecy, which can be avoided by simply moving to another world," said Zelretch smugly.

Seeing the gleam in Regina's eyes, it was clear what _her_ choice was. Being a witch might have looked great on the surface, but it had brought her nothing but trouble and heartache. At least as a Magus one had to _earn_ fame and fortune on their own merit, rather than sit on their ass reminding everyone of past glories.

"I still get to learn how to use the Kaleidoscope, right?"

"If only for the entertainment of hearing you and Mordred swear when I dump your asses in a magical girl academy and force you to learn how to get back home on your own," said Zelretch smirking.

Mordred shared a look with Regina. While that idea ran perfectly in line with the Wizard Marshal's usual antics, the question remained if it would be worth it.

"Do I have to play nice or act girly?" asked Mordred seriously.

"Do I look like I care?" Zelretch shot back.

"I'm in," said Mordred, grinning already at the thought of bloodshed.

"In that case...how do I start the conversion to Magus, instead of a witch? And how in blazes are we supposed to acquire Smaug's core?" asked Regina intently.

"You leave that to me, for now just get some sleep," said Zelretch.

Somehow Regina just _knew_ this was going to hurt like hell.

* * *

She took it back. It didn't hurt like hell...it was so much worse.

Dragons were vain, greedy, cruel beasts...which was naturally opposed to Regina's own personality. If it wasn't for the fact her magic and body was already inclined towards dragon's blood because of her ancestor, she never would have had a chance in hell in actually absorbing the core. As it was, that chance was still very, very slim.

If she failed, she was as good as dead. There was no if's, and's or but's about it.

About the only good thing was that she wouldn't have to deal with the nosy busybodies in the castle. No one would hear her screams from inside the same Chamber that she became contracted with her big brother.

Hermione had been highly baffled as to why Regina called Mordred her 'brother' when she was clearly a girl. Two seconds of having four feet of cold steel at her throat clarified the issue. Mordred didn't like being reminded that they were basically a flawed clone of Arturia created by merging their DNA with Arturia's half-sister. Regular incest was disgusting enough...her creation was so much worse because she had been designed as a tool purely to obtain the throne. Never mind the fact that "he" had been raised a boy by his 'mother' anyway, so they had no idea how to act girly in the first place. It usually took a lot of bribery to get Mordred into anything feminine.

(Regina hated being reminded of the fact for much the same reasons.)

Regina clawed at the stone, feeling pure fire in her viens as she tried to survive the conversion process. This had to be hell, there was no way else to properly describe it.

Waver sat in silence, as did Mordred. Either Regina would survive this or she wouldn't. Even if having to listen to her agonized screams made both of them cringe...they knew she had chosen this path for herself.

Finally, there was silence. It was debateable whether or not it was because Regina's voice gave out or not...until Mordred realized she wasn't breathing.

For a few precious minutes, they waited with baited breath for what seemed like hours.

Then...it happened.

A pulse of energy could be felt from Regina's body, as the steady "thump-thump" of a strong, powerful heartbeat was heard. It wasn't an 'audible' sound, but they could still tell.

Regina opened her eyes...and Mordred was immediately struck by the strong similarities she had with both herself and Arturia. There was absolutely no doubt that Regina was the descendant of Arthur or Mordred.

(On an unrelated note, her hair was now permanently turned the same shade of blond as Mordred and Arturia. She had zero complaints about it.)

There was the same sense of _power_ behind Regina's eyes that Mordred had only ever seen in one person. However unlike their 'father', Mordred wanted to hug the stuffing out of his little sister, rather than punch her in the face repeatedly.

However Regina wasn't finished yet. While she was breathing again there was still one last test she had to perform before she could take a few days to recover.

It was a very, very good thing that the chamber was so big, because where Regina had once stood was now a massive and _very_ familiar dragon...just with a few adjustments.

This dragon was sleeker, it's wings were far stronger, and it's fire more concentrated. More importantly it was missing the piece of 'equipment' that Smaug had.

The newly transformed dragon roared and it made the very ceiling rattle. The sound wave alone could be felt all the way up into the castle proper and would baffle the teachers for weeks.

A pity Regina couldn't put her wings to a proper test flight. She was sure it would be a lot of fun.

Zelretch, when he saw his apprentice out cold on the bed, looked rather smug.

He was already creating a special shield to take the place of Avalon, since he planned to send Regina and Mordred to the 'original' Fourth Grail war to test her new body out properly. That, and so he could see what changes would be made to Waver's personality after exposure to Iskander _and_ his new girlfriend.

Though he _really_ wanted to see how Mordred handled the 'alternate' Fourth war when Ruler was summoned to straighten things out.

Either way it was sure to be very entertaining for him at least.


End file.
